India, whose previous best finish at the Olympiad was a bronze medal in 2014, are now assured of a first-ever gold or silver. This is the first time the tournament is being played in a knockout format.
Koneru Humpy held her nerve in an Armageddon game to pull off a 2-1 victory for India in the Chess Olympiad semifinal against Poland on Saturday. India, whose previous best finish at the Olympiad was a bronze medal in 2014, is now assured of a first-ever gold or silver. They will meet the winners of the Russia vs USA semifinal in Sunday’s final.
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The Indian team had come back from behind to claim Saturday’s 2-1 win. They had lost 2-4 in the first round. They then came back quickly with a stunning 4.5-1.5 lead in the second. In the match-deciding tie-break, Humpy did the most.
World Women Rapid Champion Koneru Humpy wins a decisive Armageddon game with Black against Monika Socko & Team India makes it to the final of FIDE Online #ChesOlympiad. They will play a winner of Russia – USA match that will start at 16:00 UTC. pic.twitter.com/n29sDaOnnZ
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 29, 2020
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand came into his own with a much-needed win over Jan-Krzystof Duda in 78 moves in the second round after losing to his opponent in the first round.
With a victory over Grzegorz Gajewski, Captain Vidit Gujrathi led the way while Humpy and D Harika also won victories. Igor Janik defeated young prodigy R Praggnanandhaa who displaced Nihal Sarin while Alicja Silwicka drew Vantika Agrawal.
In the first round, Duda tamed Anand while Alicja Silwicka beat Gujrathi down on Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Divya Deshmukh. Humpy and Harika respectively drew against Socko and Karina Cyfika while Sarin posted the only victory for India in the first round, beating Igor Janik.
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